Description
Ref # RA0226

To mark Hunters & Frankau’s 225th Anniversary, we are offering a very special Havana cigar and a commemorative humidor. Just 50,000 of the cigars have been produced in numbered SLB boxes of 25. Both the cigars and the humidor have been created to reflect Hunters & Frankau’s company’s long history in the Havana cigar trade.

The Brand

Hunters & Frankau chose Ramon Allones for their celebratory cigar because of its particular association with the Hunters side of the company. In 1911 John Hunter, Morris & Elkan Ltd, as it was then known, bought the brand’s factory in Havana along with its worldwide trademark rights. They were privileged to own the brand for sixteen years until 1927 when they sold it to the Cuban owners of Partagas whilst retaining the rights to Ramon Allones in the United Kingdom.

The Vitola (5 1/2"/141mm x 50 ring gauge)

All the Hunters & Frankau Aniversario 225 cigars were made at the Partagas factory in Havana, the home of Ramon Allones since 1927.

Hunters & Frankau are grateful to the factory and Habanos S.A. for undertaking to produce a unique vitola for them based on the Gordito size, but with a “Cabeza Tumbada”, or “Dropped Head”, typical of the shapes that were made during their stewardship of the brand.

The Blending, Making and Ageing of the Cigars.

Master blender Arnaldo Vichot created the rich mixture of leaves for the cigars. Two different blends were submitted to a tasting panel in Havana back in November 2012 at which Jemma Freeman was also present. Once the final blend was chosen, production of all 50,000 cigars took place between February and May 2013 and was undertaken by just three top grade torcedores.

In the traditional British manner, the cigars were then shipped to the UK and aged for a period of two years in a condition-controlled warehouse so that they would be fully matured before being released to the market.

The Commemorative Humidor & 225 Anniversary Rum by Havana Club

In days gone by it was customary to buy Havanas in cedar cabinets containing anything from 100 to 10,000 cigars, or more. They were much in vogue between the 1880s and the 1940s. This type of presentation gave rise to the expression “Cabinet Selection”, which came not only to describe the Habanos of exceptional quality that were selected to fill them but also the Slide Lid Boxes in which they were shipped.

To commemorate Hunters & Frankau's Anniversary, they have commissioned two hundred and twenty-five, numbered replicas of this style of presentation each containing four boxes (100 cigars) of the Ramon Allones Hunters & Frankau Aniversario 225.

The cabinet, every one of which is personally signed by Jemma Freeman, is equipped with two Xikar Crystal humidifiers and comes with one hundred commemorative cigar spills. The lid at the top lifts up to reveal a humidified compartment for dispensing single cigars topped with a ceramic plaque on which the Ramon Allones insignia is emblazoned.

Each humidor is delivered with a complimentary 50cl bottle of very special rum prepared by Havana Club’s master blender Asbel Morales to marry with the taste of the cigar. Also called the Hunters & Frankau Aniversario 225, Hunters & Frankau thank Havana Club for supporting the celebrations by producing 500 numbered bottles of this precious spirit from selected vintage casks. None will be for sale, but if they were, the value would be some £300 per bottle.

The final selection of the rum to match the cigar took place in November 2014 when Jemma Freeman travelled to Havana with some of the Aniversario 225 cigars that had already benefitted from some eighteen months of ageing in England. Commenting on the pairing Morales said, “I’m defending my rum’s notes and the cigar is defending its notes. They should not mirror each other, nor contrast too much. It’s like a perfectly balanced marriage.”

Also present was Odelaine Paneque, the head taster at Partagas. It is a rare event for the catadores (tasters) at Havana’s factories to light up a cigar that they last smoked a year and a half before. She was very impressed with the way in which the cigar had retained its strong flavour and had gained a perfect balance between its aroma and its strength whilst losing its early aggressiveness.

The manufacture of the humidors

The humidors were manufactured by DeART S.r.l. situated in Calvenzano near Milan in northern Italy. Massimo de Munari, whose family owns the company, has built an enviable reputation over the last five years for making exceptional humidors, which he has supplied to many clubs, restaurants and private homes in Britain.

DeART’s skills in making fine furniture of the highest quality left them with no doubt that Massimo and his team were the right people to make the humidors. The project started in the summer of 2013 and since then has been through many phases of prototypes and design changes to reach the finished product. Manufacture commenced in January 2015 and the humidors were delivered at the end of March.

Jemma Freeman paid a visit to Italy during the production run and was able to witness the extraordinary care and attention to detail that went into the humidors; a fitting compliment to the quality of the cigars that they will contain.

The Release Date and Prices

Monday 22nd June 2015 is the day when the Ramon Allones Hunters & Frankau Aniversario 225 cigars and the Commemorative Humidors will be released for sale and we will commence shipping to clients. Order early to avoid disappointment.

Please Note: Shipping prices may vary so will be worked out at the cost price, you will be contacted via email to arrange this.

Rare Whisky Specialist

Reviews

Displaying 1 to 4 (of 4 reviews)

Result Pages: 1

by Michael on Sunday 30 October, 2016

Sad to think that many of these cigars may never be smoked,at least not by the initial purchasers.I imagine that they have now slipped away out of sight in to the depths of collector's humidors for a long sleep like some kind of tobacco caterpillar,if one may imagine such a thing..........the next time you see them they will have become very,VERY expensive butterflies!! :D

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by ASHLEY on Friday 22 January, 2016

I have smoked plenty of these now, and while they are tied very well and are getting better each time I smoke them, they are several years away from being 'the real thing' Good ? yes, great ? not yet and the jury is still very much out.

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by Rajiv on Tuesday 11 August, 2015

Honestly....a bit underwhelming. I love Ramon Allones but this does nothing for me. It's a nice cigar and the flavours to me are mild and quite non-descript.
I picked up on some smooth creaminess but really found it difficult to describe anything else.
This cigar has been aged for some time in Cuba and the UK and perhaps it needs more time. Good things come to those who wait. Is there potential here? I'm not willing to take the risk at these prices.

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by Staff on Thursday 25 June, 2015

We’ve been waiting for the release of the Ramon Allones H&F Aniversario 225 cigar for quite some time but now, the wait is finally over. As soon as these arrived into our humidor I had to light one up, the look and presentation of them is just stunning! These are a medium bodied cigar with an incredibly smooth, creamy smoke and at first, the flavours are very typical of Ramon. The draw is slightly on the tighter side for the first half of the cigar but the burn remains constant and even. The second half of this cigar is what it’s all about, the draw loosens up slightly and the smoke doubles in thickness. The flavours intensify, rich and creamy but still medium in strength with no harshness and next to no bitterness.
This cigar starts off as a delightful cigar and turns into a superb one! I think they could benefit a lot from another year or so in the humidor as we found with the Ramon Petit Belicosos RE 2012 (which are still available and highly recommended here: https://www.cgarsltd.co.uk/ramon-allones-petit-belicosos-regional-edition-2012-single-p-12597.html). So my advice, grab yourself a box for now and a box for later, you will not regret it! These are limited to just 2000 boxes so you better be quick though.

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Displaying 1 to 4 (of 4 reviews)

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